Carry the Zero
by ManOfChocolate
Summary: Fresh from a successful hunt to refill her 'science snack storage', Alphys encounters a distressed Frisk heading home from school.
**A/N: Crossposting from AO3. Funny enough, I've actually forgotten about this request for the longest time! This was also done of a lovely /utg/ Anon, with the prompt 'Alphys finds a crying Frisk coming home from school'. It's short, but turned out sweet, so I though might as well add it here! Originally posted in the /utg/ pastebin as 'School Sucks'. Thank you for your unending work, Pastebin Anon!**

 **Currently trying for an Applied Chocolate Sciences degree. All test materials are welcome and will be put to good use.**

* * *

Alphys wiped the sweat from her from brow and took a couple of deep breaths. The human world was vast and astounding, full of knowledge and information. It was also sadly filled with thousands and thousands and thousands of people and as fate would have it, she came across at least a couple percent of the total just today.

She still felt rather awkward to be out in the open like this, especially in a dress, but Undyne had made it very clear that not only did she not want her to roam the streets in lab coat any longer, she also had spies in every corner. Alphys didn't take that particular threat seriously, but stuck to it nonetheless.

This was a level of lying she was perfectly comfortable with.

"Let's see..."

Turning her attention to her sack, she rummaged through the contents again, just to make sure she had everything. This was not the first nor last time she had done that, but it was a necessary precaution. No 'science afternoon' could be complete without the required work materials and some of those human candy containers were infuriatingly small and easy to miss.

"Alright." she confirmed her inventory and went on. The fact that most of her friends lived very close-by always made the neighborhood feel both smaller and safer. "I wonder what's streaming tonight."

Before she could have made a mental list of what to watch with Undyne, a familiar figure entered her sight. Frisk was walking straight towards her, though they didn't seem to so much as acknowledge Alphys' existence. That wasn't what bothered the former Royal Scientist though.

"O-oh dear..." she sighed.

Frisk's entire body language was one she was keenly familiar with. Gaze firmly on the ground, shoulders forcefully pulled up and shaking, hands clasping the backpack's shoulder straps so hard they turned white.

The kid headed towards them with cold solemnity and practically no determination to speak of. It didn't take any kind of scientific knowledge to tell the child was distressed.

"Frisk?"

A gasp and glance upwards confirmed Alphys' theory. Fresh tears were still streaming down Frisk's face. They sniffled loudly, and wiped their nose with a sleeve. There was a moment of silent pondering, before they opened their arms and approached her.

Alphys had run a couple ideas about what to say, but while each of them could have potentially raised Frisk's spirits a bit, she detached herself from the possible choices. It took but a second for the optimal solution to crystallize, as she reached out and pulled Frisk into her embrace.

"T-there, there... it's alright." she cooed, ruffling up the little one's hair. Frisk was mostly silent as usual, safe for the occasional sobbing hiccup. Her cheeks reddened from being so close to another person like usual, but that was a minor issue for another time. "Had a rough day at s-school?"

"Hate it." they blurted out after a little while.

"The teachers or t-the classmates?"

"All of it."

"Well, that's a problem indeed..." Alphys giggled, trying to bring a brief smile on Frisk's face, but it didn't seem like that worked at all. Sans was infinitely better at turning even the saddest moments around through sheer absurdity and a seeming lack of care.

"Can't you teach me?" Frisk looked up, their pleading eyes making the scientist bright red again.

"M-me? I couldn't teach you anything!" she said, playing it off as half-joking. "Nothing that's not a-anime, or books, or... how to never leave the same four walls and-"

She stopped mid-sentence, realizing she was not helping whatsoever. Frisk did seem to have calmed down just a bit, but that could have easily just been being close to a friend, than whatever awful rousing speech she tried to conjure up.

"You know... there's actually one thing I could teach you about..." she mused. Frisk perked up with the familiar curiosity every monster loved about them. "I know a lot a-about determination! What it d-does, how it grows, how to isolate and store it, the limitless power and potential of it..."

"But the problem is..." She bent her knees a little, just enough to get in eye-level with them. She pressed a finger against Frisk's chest, just over the beating heart and where their SOUL burned the most. "I can't t-teach you what you already know, right?"

Frisk's eyes lit up as the words sunk in. Her mouth opened and Alphys could just about see that little, beautiful living spark of DETERMINATION kindling in her eyes. Their mouth soon twisted up again, but this time in the very familiar form of a smile.

Alphys smiled back, only to get flustered again as Frisk let out a giggle, first stifled then more and more audible.

"Come on..." Alphys pouted, cheeks flaring rose-red. "That w-was pretty good!"

Frisk's shoulders were shaking for laughter this time around and they happily wrapped their arms around the scientist again, this time in a much more positive light.

Minor embarrassment aside, Alphys was happy with the result. She got up and grabbed Frisk's hand, motioning them towards her home.

"Call Toriel and tell her you're sleeping over tonight." she said with a playful wink and a different kind of determination. "Tell her you've got... science to do and it'll take all day for you to finish. I'm sure Lab Assistant Undyne will be happy to take care of our snack needs, too!"

Frisk threw their hands into the air in support of that idea, their laughter somehow making the whole neighborhood just a tiny bit brighter by virtue of existing. A job well done, Alphys allowed herself just a little bit of mischievousness on top of it.

"Who knows, maybe she might even personally take you to school tomorrow?"


End file.
